After a disappointing injury-plagued campaign spent with the Capitals and Kings, the Canucks chose to take a flier on Sturm this summer by signing him to a one-year deal. The 32-year-old has eclipsed the 20-goal mark eight times throughout his career, but he has done so just once in the past three seasons. The Canucks hope Sturm can remain injury free and return to the 40-50 point form he displayed earlier in his career. Given the talent on the Canucks’ roster, Sturm could be a good bounce-back option for deeper formats that value 20-goal wingers.
Sturm, who finished the 2009-10 regular season with a team-high 22 goals in 76 games, is currently recovering from knee surgery and will be unavailable to start the coming season. While losing him was a bad break, if the speedy German winger starts the 2010-11 campaign on long-term IR, it would actually be a financial relief for the cap-strapped team. He's on the books for $3.5 million next season.
Sturm, who was limited to only 19 games last season after tearing the ACL and meniscus in his left knee, will be ready to play in the Bruins’ opener and is banking on being 100 percent for the 2009-10 season. Even if he gets his trademark speed back, the B’s have plenty of options up front, so Sturm may have a hard time putting up consistent numbers. His return certainly helps bolster the Bruins’ scoring depth, but he figures to be less of a focal point in the offense than he was before the team’s recent infusion of young offensive talent.
Helping fill the void created by the absence of Patrice Bergeron and the struggles of the now-departed Glen Murray, Sturm (career-high 56 points) continued to use his speed well last season, bagging a team-high 27 goals. We are not suggesting that he has regressed as he nears 30, rather that there will be some able reinforcements this season, who will complement and at the same time, curtail his production.
Sturm took a step backward last season with 44 points in 76 games (27G, 17A) following a 59-point effort the previous season (29G, 30A). He started and ended the season cold, but was otherwise solid from about December through to mid-March. If new coach Claude Julien get coax a more consistent effort out of him, Sturm should be able to get back to the 60-point level where he belongs.
Sturm delivered a career year last season after finding incredible chemistry with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Boyes. This speedster will once again benefit from playing with the youngsters and might even hit the 60-point plateau this season. That makes him a viable, first guy off your bench and perhaps even a starting role in some leagues.
He's very quietly put up 70 goals over the last three years, and his 2003-04 stats would have been his best if not for a broken ankle that cost him two months. The book on Sturm over the years has been that you can get physical with him and push him around a bit, but that shouldn't be as much of an issue in the new NHL landscape. This is the season the shifty Sturm scores 30 or more goals.
